France 2030

Since 2021, the France 2030 plan has been a flagship initiative of the French government designed to support innovation and its leading actors across the nation. Its aim is to identify, nurture and develop ideas to ‘bring the future closer together’.
For the CNRS, this funding translates into steering or co-steering around forty national research programmes, implementing a programme focused on high-risk and very fundamental research. As part of this, a first wave of 12 projects has been selected.

National research programmes

The CNRS is at the helm of most Priority Research Programmes and Equipment (PEPR) launched under the France 2030 plan, as well as various Priority Research Programmes (PPR) of the previous “Investissements d'avenir” plan.

PEPRs and PPRs aim to bolster French research and innovation in scientific strategic fields that are pivotal/crucial to technological, economic, social, health and environmental change. The PEPRs programmes are divided into two categories: Directed programmes, which drive progress in existing transformative initiatives such as low-carbon hydrogen and artificial intelligence. They are to support government “acceleration strategies" and are designed to align with and enhance government efforts to rapidly advance specific sectors, technologies, or industries. These programmes are backed by a budget of €2 billion over ten years. Exploratory programmes, which focus on emerging sectors such as DNA data storage or light-matter interaction, supported by a budget of €1 billion.

40 national programmes co-led by the CNRS
All national exploratory programmes co-supervised by the CNRS
€3 billion invested in research through the France 2030 plan

The programmes cover 5 major themes:

Electronics and digital technologiesEnergy transitionEnvironmentHealthSocieties

More information

  • Programmes nationaux de recherche copilotés par le CNRS Explore a comprehensive overview of all the national programmes co-led by the CNRS

Programme Recherche à risque et à impact: unconventional and high-risk exploratory projects

The programme is the CNRS's response to the French government's ‘Research with Risk’ initiative, funded by France 2030.This programme is designed to foster daring research projects with the potential to drive significant scientific, technological and societal breakthroughs. Unlike traditional funding mechanisms, it supports high-risk projects where the outcomes are uncertain. The selection process is based on the CNRS's in-depth expertise and its network of over 1,000 laboratories. Through this programme, the CNRS is asserting its leadership in high-risk research in France and Europe.

12 projects selected in the first wave
€2 to €3 million invested per project

The projects cover 5 main areas of application:

Digital technologiesEnvironmentLiving systemsMatterSocieties

More information

  • Refer to the article In search of risk published on 7 October 2024
  • Brochure Programme Recherche à risque  Explore the French brochure featuring the 12 projects funded by the CNRS.